The French Riviera is one of the most picturesque and desirable holiday spots in France with so many must-see towns lining the stunning Côte d’Azur. Whether you’re looking for high-octane glamour in Monaco, the best island beaches or tempting Niçoise specialities fresh from the market, this region has something to please everyone.
Spend your holiday hopping from one town to the next, exploring stately villas and museums, chartering a luxury yacht or soaking up the sun in the outdoor pool of a French Riviera mansion. What could be better than a city-beach holiday in one of the world’s most exciting seaside destinations?
Here are some of the best things to see and do when visiting the French Riviera…
Walk the old quarter of Le Suquet in Cannes
Leave the Cannes Film Festival to the stars and explore the old neighbourhood of Le Suquet, the original Roman site of Cannes. Walk the winding cobbled streets and look around the Église Notre-Dame-d’Espérance and the Musée de la Castre housed in an old castle. It’s also a great spot for charming local restaurants where you can spend a leisurely afternoon people-watching over the Bay of Cannes.
Discover the Picassos of Antibes
Explore the life of the great Spanish painter at the Musée Picasso in Antibes. Picasso spent most of his life on the French Riviera and spent a few months painting at the former Château Grimaldi overlooking the sea. The museum opened in 1966 and boasts 250 paintings, drawings and ceramics by Picasso, as well as artworks by Nicolas de Staël and sculptures by Joan Miró and Germaine Richier.
Shop local in Nice
Shopping at the local markets is one of the best things about a trip to the French Riviera. The Cours Saleya in Nice is a vibrant market selling either flowers, fruits and vegetables or antiques, depending on which day you visit. It’s the perfect place to find products specific to the region such as dried lavender, Provençal soap, preserved fruits, olive oil and truffles.
Of course, a trip to the market wouldn’t be complete without grazing on some Mediterranean street food. Go for rotisserie chicken with crispy potatoes or Niçoise specialities pissaladière, beignets and socca (a thin pancake made from chickpea flour and olive oil).
Listen to classical music in Menton
The Menton Music Festival takes place every year in July and August and is the oldest classical music festival in France. For the past sixty years, it has attracted a stellar line-up of orchestras, ensembles and soloists from around the world in a prestigious venue. Also, look out for the annual Menton Lemon Festival with colourful fruit parades, illuminated gardens and night processions with fireworks, dancers and brass bands.
La vie en rose in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Take a tour of Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, a jewel of the Côte d’Azur in upscale Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. This rose-tinted (and highly Instagrammable) villa was built in the early 20th century for Béatrice de Rothschild and is filled with antiques, old master paintings and rare porcelain. It also features nine perfectly-manicured gardens, each on a different theme including Florentine, Spanish, Japanese and Provençal.
It’s also the location of the summer festival Opera Azuriales and The Painters Day where artists are welcomed to paint in the gardens for one day in June each year.
Learn about perfume in Grasse
This hillside town, just north of Cannes, is known as the perfume capital of the world. It’s surrounded by sprawling fields covered in local flowers (lavender, violet and mimosa) and is home to a number of fragrance houses such as Galimard, Fragonard and Molinard. However, its most exclusive client is Chanel, whose flowers fields yield a harvest of May roses and jasmine flowers, which make up the main notes of its iconic Chanel No.5 fragrance.
To fully immerse yourself in this fragrant wonderland, delve through 3000 years of perfume history at the Museé International de la Parfumerie. Learn about the process from start to finish, including raw materials, manufacturing, trade and design. You can even visit the museum’s peaceful flower garden.
Swim in crystal clear waters in Porquerolles
The tiny untouched Île de Porquerolles, just south of Saint-Tropez, is one of the most idyllic spots on the French Riviera. An antidote to the glitz and glamour of the region, most of the island is a national park and the Plage de Notre-Dame offers calm azure waters, golden sand and inviting aromas of pine tree and eucalyptus.
Musical Fireworks in Monaco
In July and August each year, the Principality of Monaco hosts spectacular international fireworks competition over the Port Hercules. Monaco Art en Ciel takes place over four evenings and features dazzling pyrotechnics set to classical and pop music with free concerts for the public. Indulge with Bouillabaisse and rosé at one of the restaurants lining the port or take a night-time cruise for a prime view.
Eat Tarte Tropézienne in Saint-Tropez
Paris may be renowned for its fine pâtisserie, but Saint-Tropez is the birthplace of the more rustic Tarte Tropézienne. It was created in 1955 by baker Alexandre Micka and named by Brigitte Bardot when she was filming And God Created Woman. This fluffy, cream-filled brioche can be found in pâtisseries all over the coastal town, but the best are said to be at the original La Tarte tropézienne and Marcel et Cavazza.
Have you been to the French Riviera? Where are your favourite hotspots in the south of France?
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Photos by Chérie City, Villa Ephrussi & Semec Kelagopian
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